Villain's Evolution: Investing in My Minions Yields Crazy Returns!

Victor quickly changed the topic. ”Who is going to kill her?”

For a brief moment, silence settled over the clock tower, broken only by the night wind sweeping through the open arches, stirring Victor’s hair and sending the man’s gray cloak billowing behind him.

The gray-cloaked man finally raised his head.

”It isn’t about someone wanting to kill her. At least, not on the surface.”

He raised one hand. A small projection mana crystal appeared in his palm. Pale blue light illuminated the darkness as a map rapidly projected itself between them.

It was the Seventh Magical Beast Trial Ground, the area where the freshman practical screening would take place two days from now.

The entire trial ground had the structure of a long, narrow canyon, surrounded by the academy’s large defensive barrier and divided internally into four regions: forest, wasteland, rocky valley, and underground caves.

Three red markers appeared at different locations on the map.

...They were Mana Core Badges.

The gray-cloaked man pointed toward the northernmost one.

”This one. Don’t let Leah touch it.”

Victor’s gaze settled on the red point.

”Why?”

”Because it isn’t an ordinary Mana Core Badge. There’s an Abyss Induction Crystal sealed inside.”

’That term again.’ Victor’s eyes narrowed.

The first one had been associated with Cecilia. Now, Leah.

Just how far did this conspiracy reach? ℯℯ𝘭.

Shaking away the thoughts that would not have any answers until the future revealed them, he asked, ”What does it do?”

”It releases a high-frequency mental fluctuation,” the gray-cloaked man answered. ”Ordinary professionals can barely sense it, but for someone who has only recently completed the reconstruction of a special mana core, it’s extremely dangerous.”

’So he even knows about Leah’s awakening.’

Although the man did not say it outright, it was quite easy to tell that he knew, because Leah had only reconstructed her Astral Core yesterday.

Although its stability had improved, the core was still in its most vulnerable stage.

”What happens then?” Victor continued asking.

”Loss of control. If she remains in contact with it for more than three minutes...”

The gray-cloaked man paused, then added, ”Her Astral Core will collapse from within.”

At those dreadful words, the atmosphere turned cold, and the wind suddenly disappeared as though it had never been there.

Victor finally understood why the system had directly raised the danger rating of this assessment from Low to High.

This was not simply a matter of adding a few magical beasts. Someone had directly inserted something specifically designed to target Leah into a core part of the assessment.

”Who put it there?” Victor asked, perhaps the most important question.